This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund,
and Mountain Project.You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates.

Description

Protection may vary from what you read in the guidebooks or here on this site as routes get rebolted and threads/slings are added or subtracted from a route.

Located in the Southern Province of Krabi, the peninsula of Phra Nang/Railay Beach is isolated from the mainland by the very cliffs we climb/play on, accessible only by boat from Ao Nang, Ao Nam Mao or Krabi Town. Once you're there, you will find yourself surrounded by the beautiful Andaman Sea, lush jungle, and fantastic limestone cliffs. It has plenty of activities for the average tourists (sun, sand, sea, cuisine, massages, kayaking, diving) but let's admit it: we're here to climb, play and chill out in an exotic tropical paradise.

It's probably the most popular place in Krabi to spend Christmas and New Year, with the limited number of rooms filling up around six months in advance.

ATMs located in Bobo's Market and along the path through the resorts to Railay East near a mini-mart, another is located on the East beach in front of the Viewpoint Resort. There is an ATM on Railay Beach, but not Tonsai (as of Feb 2014). There are several mini-marts and a couple of internet cafes. There are no cars or roads in Railay, which also gives the place a relaxed feel. All the climbing areas are a short walk away.

Getting There

Bus, train or plane.

By Plane: most travelers can fly directly into Krabi Airport or Phuket Airport. A short 1-hr taxi ride from Krabi or 2-hr taxi from Phuket to Ao Nang beach or Ao Nam Mao followed by a 15-minute long-tailed boat ride to either Railay West/Tonsai Beach from Ao Nang or a 15-minute long-tailed boat from Ao Nam Mao if staying at Railay East.

By Train: Overnight train from Bangkok to Surat Thani, then you must take a bus (or taxi) to Krabi which takes around 2-3 hours.

By Bus: (not recommended) cheapest way to travel, but you get what you pay for. From Gov't buses and travel agency Death Coaches you have several options, just be choosey.

Diving

Other Resources

Things to do

The monastery is Krabi's central temple and a local gathering point during Buddhist events and weddings. The main attraction in the temple is an impressive reclining Buddha image.

Wat Tham Suea

Which literally means tiger cave temple, is located in the Khiriwong Valley amidst lush forests and mountains with large trees over a hundred years old approximately 9 kilometers northeast of Krabi Town. Aside from being the site of a meditation center, the compound is also a place of archaeological and historical interest as excavations have uncovered stone tools, pottery remains and Buddha footprint crafting molds. In addition, a cave in the compound has what appears to be tiger paw prints in the stone

Easy 5.11 climbing on jugs through the cave leads to a tough move to pull the roof, then a couple more moves to the anchor. A bat hang and no-hands-rest knee-bar are both possible....[more]Browse More Classics in International

This is a great adventure and a great place to climb. However check out the routes first. A bolt has a short life expectancy, and you could be climbing on what looks like a perfectly good bolted route where the bolts' holding power amounts to a small RP. There is a local climbing shop were you can rent gear and get beta on routes. Don't think that in such a remote place you will be alone. When we were there the place was packed with Europeans and we stayed in Ao Nang. If you are planning on going, email me and I will provide as much beta as possible (i.e. where we made mistakes and where we discovered some real fun.)

Get Wee's book when you get there, no offense to Sam, but its more up to date and is still only like 10 bucks when you get there. And don't miss Wee's deep water solo trip either, it's incredible, so sick.

No offense to Clay for his comment or Wee for his book, I'm sure its great, BUT...

Buy Sam's book. Even if its in addition to Wee's BUY IT. Railey needs ALOT of new bolts and 100% of the proceeds of the book goes into new bolting. And from what I've seen, Sam is NO slacker, he spends damn near all of his vacation rebolting many, many climbs so we can all have a safe vacation.

I've been going between Krabi Town (where I'm living) and Tonsai on the weekends. In doing so I have figured out a few things to lessen waste build up here, especially those damn water bottles!

1) Bring some tupperware. You can buy it anywhere. There are a million plastic shops in SE Asia.

2) Simply put, reuse the plastic bag. No big deal. How many times do you need a plastic bag in a plastic bag, in another plastic bag?

3) Most importantly, refill your water! You can refill your water bottles at three places in Tonsai.

A) Saithong Resort. Top of the jungle trail on the Tonsai side is a bungalow/camping place (a truck with plants in the back parked in front). They sell the LARGE, 5 gallons, bottles. You will use it all so you may as well buy it. To purchase a bottle it's about 100 Baht. Plus 60 Baht for the water inside. Every time you need more water just bring your empty one and they will swap it out for a filled one, 60 Baht every time. Catching them in the evening is better. Around 5-6pm. Much cheaper and environmentally healthy this way.

B) Backyard Cafe.The hippie spot on the left at the bottom of the jungle trail that connects Raillay and Tonsai. It's a nice breakfast/chill spot and they will refill any of your smaller jugs. It ranges from 10-50 Baht.

C)Jungle Hut Laundry Across from Mountain View Resort

One Place to refill water, eat delicious (semi-organic no MSG) Indian food and they have yoga in the mornings is Utopia. You go by it if walking towards Diamond Wall (Highland Coffee). Say "hi!" to Georgia for me. She is the owner. This is also a great place to watch Dusky Langurs eat Mangos and play in the trees.

I'm going to put a recommendation for anyone who likes cooking and is keen to expand their knowledge to give Ya's Cooking School a try. Expensive for the dirt bag budget, but it makes up for it in a quality class. Great off day from climbing.